Safety gas feeding and brake control mechanism



April 26, 1955 A. HOLLUB 2,707,036 SAFETY GAS FEEDING AND BRAKE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Aug. 20, 1952 f yam???" 2 2 zZZzzZ United States Patent Ofitice 2,707,036 Patented Apr. 26, 1955 SAFETY GAS FEEDING AND BRAKE CONTROL MECHANISM Arthur Holluh, Chicago, Ill. Application August 20, 1952, Serial No.

8 Claims. (Cl. 192-3) My invention is directed to a novel selectively and adjustably controlling the gas feed throttle of carburetors of vehicle engines, and which includes means whereby a single foot-actuated member will control the brake pedal of standard vehicles and the gas mechanism for with another object, especially when the press forward with their foot with intention the b" The stress of expected collision, or

manually operable mechanism, including a single pedal movably mounted for both A further object of my invention is the provision of a ing gas fuel to the engine.

Other and further objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims.

On the drawings:

ig. l is a side elevation of my manually operable control device and showing portions of the floor and portion of the walls in cross section.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view illustrating in dotted lines additional positions to which said foot pedal may be manually moved.

ig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of ment of the connection bearing means with parts away and taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the plane indicated by line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. is an enlarged view looking at the upper end of a fragbroken associated parts.

Referring to the drawings:

umeral designates a portion of the floor of the vehicle which has the usual apertured integral inclined extension or foot board 11, tical fire wall or partition is shown in Fig. 1. Numeral 13 designates the brake lever, a fragment of which is shown, which has the usual foot pedal 14 thereon.

umeral 15 designates an elongated larly bent integral ears 15a which are by connected cross pins or bolts tured ends of a U-sh plate having angupivoted or hinged at its upwardly bent aperaped apertured bracket 37 which is pad of rubber or the like A bolt 21 with its mounted nut having a spacer spring 22 mounted beyieldably mounts said into movable engagement As shown in Figs. 1, 4, 5 bracket 29 has one apertured Covering valve.

The upper end portion of plate 15 has a second slot 38 a short distance above slot 39. The bolt 28 is mounted in either direction as the depending portion of said screw engages the ends of said slot 38.

Referring to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, bolt 28 is of a length so that it extends substantially below plate 15 as well as through the slot 38 thereof, and has a transversely passaged terminal cable anchoring fitting or member 40 upon the wire cable 32 which is mounted in the transverse passage of member 40, so that said cable is thereby adjustably anchored to said As illustrated in terminal member 46 and a washer 43 and about the lower end portion of screw 28 so that said held under tension and in sliding engagement with the portion of the lower face of the plate 15 immediately adjacent the slot 33. As the said pedal is moved transversely, the washer 43 will slide with slight friction along the lower face that undesirable vibration is avoided and the pedal temporarily stabilized in any of the desired positions thereof.

It will be understood that as said flexible cable 32 is connected to the gas or fuel throttle of the carburetor that transverse movement of pedal 18 in one direction to the operators right will open said throttle and return movement will close or partially close said throttle.

In Fig. 4, the position of the foot pedal is illustrated as being in the extreme left hand position with respect to the vehicle operator and wherein the throttle cable 32 will be thrust or moved toward the carburetor throttle to hold the latter in the normal minimum engine idling position. In Fig. 5, the foot pedal 18 is illustrated as being moved approximately one-half the normal distance to the right so that cable 32 will cause the throttle to be partially opened.

Most standard throttles or throttle operating levers have a suitable spring connected thereto for returning the same to normal minimum engine idling position,

the drawsuch throttle and spring not being shown in ings hereof.

Such throttle spring exerts through normal pull to return the throttle lever to minimum gas feeding position to which it may be preset. Such movement to minimum position is transmitted equally through the slidable cable 32, terminal member 49 and screw 28 to move and return the foot pedal toward or to the maximum left hand position. If the operator desires to move the foot pedal to the extreme left position and consequently the throttle valve to minimum position, the operator may slightly twist or pivot his foot on the pedal to the left, thereby causing his shoe to engage the left side flange 19 to effect such movement. When the operator desires to feed additional gas to the vehicle engine, he will twist his foot slightly to the right to the desired degree so that the right edge of his shoe will engage the right hand flange 19 and thereby move pedal 18 to the right according to the amount of fuel desired to be fed and the engine speed desired and adjustably maintain such foot pedal in the desired position to selectively regulate the engine speed. Whenever the operator desires to apply the brakes, regardless of what gas feeding position of gas feeding pedal 18 may exist at the time, the operator, will merely depress the pedal 18 in a forward and generally downwardly direction and without the need for any transverse or foottwisting movement upon which forward and downward pedal depression, the cam 26 bearing 24 until the foot pedal has reached the extreme left hand position wherein the throttle will have been moved to minimum engine idling position.

The aforesaid operation and mechanism providing for the automatic and immediate return of the foot pedal to minimum fuel feeding position, insures that any quick forward and downward depressing movement of the pedal will immediately place the throttle into the minimum normal idling position of the engine, and thereupon applies the brake pedal without shifting or removing the right foot of the operator to any other pedal, all this without any other action by the operator who frequently finds it necessary to apply the brakes quickly to avoid accidents.

The said mechanism and the aforesaid operation thereof eliminates the frequent mistakes which occur by operators, often under stress, in accidentally and unintentionally depressing the normal gas accelerator instead of the brake pedal, or as in some cases, the depression of both the gas pedal and foot brake pedal simultaneously.

As listed in Fig. l, the depending ears 15a are provided with two spaced apart holes 43, one above the other, so that the height and relative angle of the pivoted plate 15 may be selectively adjusted according to the desired position of the foot in relation to any particular brake pedal. This vertical and angular adjustment is accomplished by removal of the pins or bolts 45 and remounting of the same in the adjacent holes. It will be understood that the size of ears 150 may be varied and that the number of such vertical spaced holes 43 may be increased.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the plate 15 carries at its upper end portion a cam-like rest or member 44, which may be formed from a piece of sheet metal and whose upper edge is bevelled or inclined inwardly and downwardly as illustrated. Said rest or support 44 may be secured by Welding or the like to plate 15. As the thereof being F upper edge of the pedal slides transversely during the portion of its movement in which it is past the intermediate position, such as illustrated in Fig. 5, the lower edge portion of said pedal will slidably engage the upper bevelled edge of support 44, so that the pedal will be maintained level during a part of its transverse movement, from transverse rocking or pivoting when the weight of the foot or manual pressure is applied thereto. Such bevelled rest 44 does not retard to any noticeable degree the herein described transverse movement of said pedal.

My novel device herein described provides an advantageous and effective means of preventing frequent serious accidents which in the past have often occurred because upon even slight collision or impact the driver is pushed or moved forward upon sudden stoppage of the car, which has caused sutch driver to push forward and downward on the accelerator to increase the speed of the car and materially aggravate the impact of the car with another vehicle or other object and with resulting greater damage. With my device the danger of unintentional increased speed under such conditions is eliminated due to the fact that any forward or downward foot pressure on the pedal, whether intentional or unintentional, will immediately apply the brake instead of depressing the accelerator.

My device has the further advantage in that it eliminates the frequent movements of the right foot to and from the accelerator (that is back and forth between accelerator and present brake pedals) which is tiresome and energy consuming, especially in city driving where frequent changes are necessary. Consequently, driving with use of my device is more restful than with present equipment.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and as many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention within the scope of the claims could be constructed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A device for use with a power driven vehicle having a foot-operated brake pedal and a fuel control mechanism comprising, a plate pivotally connected at one end to the vehicle floor adjacent the brake pedal and having its other end normally engaging the brake pedal, said plate having a slot formed therethrough adjacent the end engaging the brake pedal; an extension fixed to and depending from the underside of said plates adjacent one edge of said slot; a roller rotatably mounted on said extension; a foot-receiving member; means for swivelly connecting said member to said plate whereby said member is capable of pivoting relatively to said plate in a vertical direction and a transverse direction; a cam carried by said member extending through said slot, said cam having an inclined surface normally engaging said roller whereby transverse pivotal movement of said member relative to said plate in one direction causes said member to simultaneously pivot vertically away from said plate; and means for operatively connecting said member to said fuel control mechanism whereby said mechanism is actuated by relative pivotal movement of said member with respect to said plate.

2. A device substantially as set forth in claim 1, in which, said means for swivelly connecting said member to said plate includes a concave, semi-spherical depression formed in said plate, a convex, semi-spherical projection depending from said member adapted to abut the concave surface of said depression, a ball bearing as sembly disposed between said depression and projection; and resilient means for yieldably urging said projection into engagement with said concave surface.

3. A device for use with an engine-powered vehicle having a foot-operated brake pedal and a fuel control mechanism comprising, a plate pivotally connected at one end to the vehicle floor adjacent the brake pedal and having its other end overlying and normally engaging the brake pedal; a foot receiving member having an end portion swivelly connected to said plate whereby said member is capable of pivotally moving vertically and transversely with respect to said plate; means for guiding said member along a predetermined transversely extendwith respect to said plate;

ing, vertically inclined path and means for operatively connecting said member to 2,707,036 said fuel control mechanism whereby said mechanism ing through a slot formed in said plate, said cam having is actuated by movement of said member with respect to a transversely extending, vertically inclined edge adapted said plate along said path. to engage a roller rotata Iy mounted on said plate.

4. The device substantially as set forth in claim 3, 7. The device substantially as set forth in claim 6, in which, said means for guiding said member includes 0 in which said cam means further includes a support fixed a cam fixed to said member and extending through a to the upwardly facing surface of said plate, said su slot formed in said plate, said cam having a transversely port being transversely spaced from said roller and. extending, Vertically inclined edge adapted to engage a having an inclined surface engageable by an edge porcam follower carried by said plate. tion of said member, said support inclined surface hav- 5. A device for use with an engine-powered vehicle 10 ing a slope substantially equal to the slope of said cam having a foot-operated brake pedal and a fuel throttle whereby said member is prevented from canting with means for the engine comprising, a plate having one end respectvto said plate. pivotally connected to the vehicle floor and its free end 8. The device substantially as set forth in claim 7, overlying and engaging the brake pedal; a foot-receiving in which, said means for operatively connecting said member having an end portion swivelly connected to 5 member to said fuel throttle means includes a dependsaid plate whereby the free end of said member is capable ing bolt secured to the underside of said member and of pivoting vertically and transversely with respect to extending through a second slot formed in said plate and said plate between a first position wh iein the free end a Bowden wire having one end secured to said bolt and 0 said member is disposed substantially close to said adapted to have its opposite end opelatlvely connected connecting said member to said fuel throttle means, said References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS the throttle fully opened position. 25 1,711,988 Brochon May 7, 1929 6. The device substantially as set forth in claim 5, 1,718,884 Thorpe June 25, 1929 in which, cam means are provided for causing said mem- 2,181,883 Gibson Dec. 5, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS means including a cam fixed to said member and extend- 30 239,662 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1925 

